Dracula III: Legacy

Dracula III: Legacy starts immediately where Dracula II: Ascension left off, with Dracula and his new 'bride' Elizabeth (Diane Neal) fleeing the USA, Luke (Jason London) and Father Uffizi (Jason Scott Lee) in hot pursuit, their journey taking them to Romania for a final confrontation with the legendary vamp (now played by Rutger Hauer) in his castle lair.

Filmed back-to-back with part II of the Craven/Lussier series, this chapter is naturally very similar in style and tone, a slick, contemporary blend of action, gore, and humour. Luke and Uffizi's Romanian road-trip is perhaps not as loaded with vamp action as I would have liked (they seem to have just as many problems with the local humans as they do with bloodsuckers), and its a long while before we get to see Hauer as Drac, but there is enough fun throughout to make this a satisfying end to the series.

The pairing of Lee and London works particularly well, the latter ably playing comedy sidekick to Lee's bad-ass priest/vampire killer with a troubled soul, and some welcome girl-power comes in the form of Alexandra Wescourt, who plays feisty news reporter Julia Hughes. Rutger Hauer is always cool in my book (and he has previous experience at playing a vampire), but as much as I enjoyed his performance, he does look a bit too 'weathered' here to be playing Dracula (what's with the messy stubble?), especially considering that Stephen Billington and Gerard Butler played the character in the earlier films.

For me, the best thing about the film is the gore, which includes a juicy 'spear in the eye' gag, a macabre display of impaled priests, a bit of face melting with holy water, Father Uffizi whipping off heads and limbs right, left and centre, and in my favourite moment—an attack by a pair of creepy circus vampires—the cutting in half of a female acrobat and the ingenious staking of a clown on stilts.

6.5 out of 10 (rounded up to 7 for the cool ending, which I won't spoil by describing here).

this sequel to Dracula II:Ascension,which is sort of a sequel to Dracula 2000,has much more story than either of the other tow.almost too much,in fact.it moves at a pretty slow pace,then,just when you think you can bear no more,something interesting happens to keep you watching.Two of the main characters from Dracula II are more fleshed out,and there is a wee bit of humour to lighten things up on one or two rare occasions.near the end,when i thought it was over,i was thinking how anti climatic it all was.but i realized it wasn't quite over,and the actual ending is brilliant.it begs for a sequel,which is not likely to happen.and yet,it's also a perfect conclusion.the ending(well,that and Rutger Hauer as Dracula--a stroke of genius)is what elevated the move for me.otherwise,i would have given this 2 or 3 stars less.as it stands,i give Dracula III:Legacy a 6/10

I am from Transylvania, Romania. Actually I live near Bran (30 minute by car), known as Dracula's Castle.

In the Factual Errors it is stated that: "it is also an Orthodox Christian country. In the scene where the main characters approach the castle, you can see a bunch of Catholic priests impaled. You would struggle to find that many Catholic priests in all of Eastern Europe, much less in Romania alone."

Totally incorrect! Because we are speaking about Transylvania (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Principality_of_Transylvania) which was a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The biggest number of catholic religion persons from Romania is in Transylvania. Actually is quite easy to find catholic priests in these parts of Romania.

Brasov, which is my city, has the Black Church, the biggest Gothic style Catholic Cathedral in Eastern Europe!

You don't have to know history to check what you are saying at www.wikipedia.com

Anyway, for those interested in the Dracula myth, you should read a bit more about the Medieval History of Transylvania...You would like more the myth of Dracula;and the castle is quite impressive;Personally, I would not dare to stay a night by myself in the Castle;not only because of Dracula;we have stronger demons in our culture that Dracula.

Myself I am more like a Werewolf type :-) In Transylvania we still have packs of wolves that attack at night the villages in long winter nights and we have the biggest population of bears in Europe; And a lot of old superstitions about demons that travel the country side at night, even nowadays;

If you ever visit Romania, enjoy Transylvania! It is the most beautiful part of Romania by far!

Father Uffizi (Jason Scott Lee) and Luke (Jason London) travels through a Romania destroyed by the civil war and the vampires. Luke is trying to save Elizabeth (Diane Neal) from the claws of Dracula, and Uffizi to terminate with the vampires. Along their journey, they meet the British television journalist Julia Hughes (Alexandra Westcourt) covering the war, and the trio follow together facing dangerous situations with the rebels and the vampires.

"Dracula III: Legacy" is a reasonable sequel of "Dracula II: Ascension". The cinematography is beautiful, the special effects work well, but the facial expressions of the ham actor Jason London almost spoil the film. In the end, this forgettable movie entertains. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Drácula 3: O Legado Final" ("Dracula 3: The Final Legacy")

Dracula is back for one last bite in this second sequel to Dracula 2000. Sadly, neither this nor the first sequel comes close to the original, possibly because of the actor playing Dracula in the original. This time around, Dracula is played by Rutger Hauer, and as much as I like Hauer, this is hardly his finest hour (that would be THE HITCHER and BLADE RUNNER). Rutger was just picking up a paycheck and getting to see Romania. Jason Scott Lee is a defrocked priest hot on Drac's trail, and Lee is all pop-eyed and frizzy-haired and high energy -- and about the only reason to watch this bloody but unnecessary romp. Shooting in an old castle or whatever it was in Romania didn't do anything toward guaranteeing a quality picture. I did sort of like the very ending, but see it for yourself and decide. Jason London is woefully miscast as a secondary hero to the proceedings. You want Dracuia, watch one of the Chris Lee Hammer flicks.